BABYLON, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin, big cinema hall
(Eintritt frei | admission free)
Delia Gonzalez
IN REMEMBERANCE 2010/2011 (4 parts)
Black Leotard Front (Gavin Russom, Delia Gonzalez, Christian Holstad, Daniel Schmidt)
COME ON 2003, MOTORCYCLE 2004, CRYSTAL SWANS 2004
The inspiration for Delia Gonzalez (*1972 in Miama, lives and works in Berlin) recent film IN REMMEMBERANCE is drawn from a passage by Henry Miller, excerpted in the diary of Anais Nin. Anais describes an afternoon with Henry Miller and proceeds to quote a passage of his writing at length: a first-person narrative detailing, a poetic process of revelation. The development of the film can be roughly broken down into two parts, the first part being a vivid description of Oberon’s black wings, the second, passing through an enlightened stage of second-childhood, employs the imagery of a black spring. The title is drawn from a line in the passage: “In remembrance of the life of a child who was strangled and stifled by the mutual consent of those who had surrendered.
One of the things that interests Delia Gonzalez about Henry Miller’s writing is how he can write the crudest things, and yet surprise the reader with some of the most insightful writing.
The story of the ballet in this work is a loose interpretation of the narrative arch of this passage. In part I (Oberon), the dancers in a black space, are dissolved into the mirror, and as they pass in front of each other the black costume of one obscures the other. The constant interplay between them doubling themselves, then each other in turn, is a reference to the Oberon figure. The second part involves a similar situation as the dancers move into and out of a red light flare as if moving into and out of two worlds. As the dancers leave the red light, they enter what seems to be more “true” or “authentic” lighting. This, combined with the occasional cut away to a fantastical setting, introduces the theme of the interference of reality.
